University of $$$$$

I'm sick of people bitching about college.

"Oh no, I didn't get into the school my parents wanted me to!  I'm not good enough for anything!  I'm so stupid and undeserving of the education I'm fortunate enough to be eligible for!  Now I have to go to a slightly less expensive school...MY LIFE IS RUINED!!!!"

Here's a suggestion, my independence-challenged friend...maybe you should look for a school you actually LIKE.  Not one your parents choose, not one with the best reputation, not the most expensive one.  One that appeals to you, that you can actually see yourself attending for 4+ years.

"But I DO like this college, Monica.  It's expensive and all the smartest kids go there."

Wow.  I'm so staggeringly unimpressed that I almost blacked out for a second there.  So...you're relying on a school's reputation of being "smart" to convince you that that's where you should start your adult life?

"Of course!  My parents want me to go there, it's a great school."

Uh-huh...did you notice the words "your adult life?"  As in you're branching out and becoming your own person?

"I'll become my own person in school!"

The school that mommy and daddy picked out for you.  Have fun, kiddo.

"You're just jealous because you didn't get into any good schools!"

Oh hey, you're right there.  Because I didn't apply to a single one of your "good" schools.

"Because you knew you wouldn't get in!"

No...because I researched them, and I didn't like them.  Now, UCA?  There's a place I can envision myself thriving.

"Yeah, because it's for dumb hicks."

Even if it were, I'm in the honors college.

"Wow, honors for dumb hicks.  Impressive."

I find it impressive.  They're paying for my entire education.  Plus, their seminar showed me that that's the type of liberal education I want to begin my adult life and find myself.  And they're paying for books and a laptop.  And giving me money to travel.  The campus is beautiful, their facilities are new, the town is small and quaint, and purple's even my favorite color!  So...what you think about it really doesn't matter to me.  I'm happy.

"Then why should what you think about my college choices matter to me?"

I guess you're right.  It's just that I feel sorry for you.  You're pressured to get into a school you assume is great because of its past.  You probably don't know their traditions or clubs or the reasons why their school colors are what they are.  Typically, "you" kids only know their stats.  And I find that depressing.

So have fun at the school you broke your back to get into, the one you lied on your applications for, the one your parents have the most pride in bragging about, the one you'll probably be bitching about as a wee freshman when you realize that this is NOT the life you want.  I'll be discovering myself at UCA, the college no one has heard of, the college I love, the college that's going to prepare me for "real life."